Metallic railway-tie



H, C. PETTENGILL.

METALLIC RAILWAY TIE.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

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PATENT OFFICE.'

HENRY C. PETTENGILL, 0F OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

METALLIC RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

Application led December 27, 1920. Serial No. 433,440.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY C. PETTENGILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Railway- Ties, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved, metallic railway tie of the cla-ss which provides cushion blocks, generally of wood, tending to absorb shocks or vibration occasioned by moving trains, and has for its object to provide a-railway tie of few .parts and of simple construction which will be durable and may be conveniently produced and assembled, will be effective in absorbing shocks and preventing derailment of a train or spreading of the rails, and will operate to advantage in resisting side stresses d1- rected to the track rails by trains when moving upon curves. The invention includes such a construction that the cushion-blocks may be readily detached from the body of the ltie-without removing or disturbing the tie when new blocks are to be substituted for those which may have become worn, in-

jured or shrunken, and a spring-plate provided with adjustable bearing-blocks may be used in instances where the rails vary in size and for use upon either narrow or standard gage railways.

In the accompanying drawing ,Figure l is a plan view of the railway tie, the adjustable bearing-blocks being omit-ted. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, a pair of trackrails being shown mounted upon pairs of adjustable bearing-blocks. Fig. 3 is a Side view, partly in section, showing the parts illustrated in Fig. 2, one of the side-plates being removed. Fig. 4 is a view of one of 'the rside-plates. Fig. 5 is an end view of the parts shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 6 and 7 are side views of a pair of adjustable bearingblocks. Fig. 8 is a transverse section hrough the railway tie on line 8 8 of Referring now to the drawing for a more particular description, the railway tie consists of a base-plate l provided, transversely, with a pair o upright, adjacently-disposed cross-plates 2 forming a channel 3 midway between its ends, said plate also being provided between its ends and each cross-plate 2 with a pair of stop-members or projections 4. Numerals 5 indicate a pair of cushion-blocks, preferably constructed of wood, adapted to be disposed upon the end-portions of the base-plate and to abut upon a stop-member 4:.

At 6 is indicated a spring-plate having the same width as the base-plate and provided with a detent-plate midway between its ends adapted to engage in the channel 3; and when the parts are assembled, this arrangement prevents any movement of said plate 6 longitudinally of the base-plate. Numerals 8 indicate a pair of wings or ledges which are provided for the plate 6 and which project o7utwardly from its edges, above the p ate At 9 are indicated a pair of side plates, each having apertures a formed therein and provided with a recess 10 opening on its upper edge for receiving a ledge or wing 8 to resist an endwise movement of the springplate. The base-plate is also provided with apertures a', and when the parts are assembled the apertures a will register with the apertures a and by use of bolts or other equivalent keepers (not shown), the sideplates may be secured to the base-plate.

The plates thus mentioned may be conveniently constructed of metal and may be readily assembled. According to the construction described the entire weight of the spring-plate will be supported by the pair of cushion-blocks 5, the parts being of such proportion, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, that the lower part of the detent plate 7 will be disposed above the base-plate, and the crossplates 2 will be disposed below said plate 6, the recesses l0 of the side plates being of such proportion that, when the plate 6 is pressed downwardly` between the side-plates, the wings or ledges 8 may move downwardly therein, but will not be supported by the side-plates.

Numerals 1l indicate parallel slots which are formed in the spring-plate inwardly of the ends thereof, these slots being arranged in pairs, side-by-side, as best shown in Fig. l, and I provide pairs of bearing-blocks indicated at l2 and 18, these being used for supporting the track rails and being suitably apeitured for receiving the spikes which engage the flanges of the rails, each block being provided below its bottom with atongue or ridge c, and being provided above its upper side with a brace cl projecting inwardly from one of its ends; and in operation, after the blocks 12 and 13 are disposed upon the spring-plate with their ridges engaging in the slots 11, the track-rails are placed upon said blocks and are secured thereto by means of spikes or equivalent keepers 15 which engage in the apertures of which enter the cushion-blocks 5.

It will be noted that `the 'length of the blocks 12 and their ridges c are approximately equal, also that the length of the blocks 13 are greater than the length of their ridges, and these features are desirable for convenience in the operation of laying the track-rails. Eachblock 12 when placed in its slot 11 is disposed with its outer end engaging the outer end of said slot. The rail 14 is then placed in position with its outer flange substantially filling-the recess e (Fig. 6) below-the brace d; the block 13 is then moved in its slot 11 so that its recess e willV receive the inner iange of the track-rail, and the spikes are then applied as mentioned. whereby any longitudinal movement of the cushion-blocks 5 will be prevented.

It will be seen, since the ridges of the blocks 12 engage the ends of the slots 11, as described, that any spreading movement ot the track-rails will be prevented; and any transverse swinging movement of the rails will be prevented since the braces Z'engage the flanges and webs of the rails, this being of great advantage lupon curved railway tracks, since all stresses directed to the rails will be resisted by the blocks and their braces.

In instances where the size of rails vary, blocks of suitable proportion, similar to those described, may be substituted, no changes of the remainingfparts of the railwa tie being necessary.

ne of the distinguishing features of the present invention relates to facility in the removal of the cushion blocks. If these blocks become injured or shrunken, substitution of new blocks may be necessary, and they may be removed conveniently from the metallic parts of the railway tie without removing the latter from a road bed since they are disposed outwardly of the stopplates 4 and extend from the plates 4 to the open ends of said metallic parts. It will be i noted that the weight of the track rails and plate 6 is directed to the cushion blocks, which operate to absorb vibration.

While I have described construction in detail I do notvwish to be understood as limiting myself in this respect, and changes in form, size, proportion and minor details my, be made, as found to be of advantage, said changes to be determined by the scope of the invention as claimed..

I claim:

1. In a railway tie, a base-plate provided YVtransversely with a channel, cushion blocks said blocks andA 1 traversing the on the base-plate, a metallic spring-plate `provided with Yslots and disposed on the.

cushion-blocks and having a detent-plate engaging in the channelof the base-plate, metallic bearing-blocks for supporting a pair of trackrails, each bearing bloc-k having a ridge engaging in a slot of the spring-plate, and keepers engaging the track rails traversing the. bearing-blocks and engaging the cushion-blocks.

2. In a metallic railway tie, an elongated container open at its top and ends, a pair of fibrous blocks within and extending to the ends of the container, a spring-plate having parallel slots formed therein arranged in pairs, said spring-plate being disposed between the sides of the container in engagement with the fibrous blocks, bearing-blocks having ridges engaging in the slots Vof the spring-plate and adapted Vto support the pair of track rails, means to prevent a movement of the spring-plate longitudinally of the container, and keepers traversing the bearing-blocks in engagement with the track-rails Vand in engagement with said fibrous blocks.'

3. In a tie fortrack rails, a metallic body open at its top and ends and providedwith stop-blocks adjacent to its ends, cushionblocks abutting upon theY stop-blocks and extending to the ends of said metallic body, a

1 metallic spring-plate supported by the cush- V ing in the slots of the spring-plate for supporting a pair of track-rails, and keepers bearing-blocks in engagement with the cushion-blocks and adapted to engage the track-rails.

4f. In.a metallic tie for track rails, a baseplate provided transversely with a channel,

cushion-blocks on the base-plate, a springplate provided with slots and engaging the cushion-plates and having adetent-plate engaging in the channel of the base-plate,

bearing-blocks forVv supporting a pair Y of track rails,'each bearing-block beingprovided at itsV top with a brace for engaging a part of a track rail and having a ridge at its bottom for engaging in a slot of the spring-plate, and a plurality of keepers engaging the track rails and traversing the bearing-blocks and engaging theV cushionblocks.

5. In a metallic tie forftrackrails, an elongated container open at its top and ends, a pair of cushion-blocks within and extending to the ends of the container, a springplate having parallel slots formed therein and arranged in pairs, said spring-plate being disposed between thesides of the container in engagement Vwith the cushionV blocks, bearing-blocks for supporting the track rails, said bearing-blocks being provided With braces for engaging the track rails and having ridges engaging in the slots of the spring-plate, means to prevent movement of the spring-plate longitudinally of the container, and a plurality of keepers traversing the bearing-blocks in engagement ion blocks.

In testimony whereof, I have aixed my signature in presence of two HENRY C. PE Witnesses:

HIRAM A. STURGES, ARTHUR H. STURGES.

Witnesses. TTENGILL. 

